Zhang Yue and Yu Heng

Zhao Xing looked at the beasts Bowei had captured. There were seventeen in total, all Original Seeds at the Dao Domain Realm, without even names. "Which one?"

"This one." Zhao Xing pointed at a demonic beast that looked like a dire wolf. Though it had no name, the panel marked it as having a void bloodline and spatial divine abilities.

With a grab of Bowei's hand, the Dao Domain Realm beast was completely disassembled. Its blood, bones, and organs spread out flat, forming a Life Dao Diagram.

"Impressive. A Life Dao Diagram formed in the blink of an eye." Zhao Xing praised him.

Killing these Dao Domain Realm demonic beasts was effortless for Zhao Xing, but forming a Life Dao Diagram instantly was not something he could achieve in one attempt.

As a scholar god, Bowei possessed the Omniscient Divine Art. With a single glance, he dissected it with the ease of a master butcher.

"Cut the nonsense. Hurry up and create your own spell. You only have half a day."

"Half a day?" Zhao Xing froze. "Elder, is time really that tight?"

Bowei looked gravely at the Sun Star high in the sky.

"This transmission realm is no ordinary transmission realm. It has a complete calendar of days, months, and years, as well as the Eight Books and Four Rites."

"And it incorporates two major categories of spells from both the True History Faction and the Void History Faction."

"That sun is fake. It was formed by the Bronze History Art. When it sets, it will likely scour the entire realm and kill every outsider." Zhao Xing's face turned green. He truly could not tell that the Sun Star was fake.

Half a day to create a Dao Domain Realm Transformation of Seasons Art?

Fortunately, Lord Zhao was exceptionally gifted. About one shichen later.

You have comprehended the Life Dao Diagram and created a new spell. Please name it.

Dire Wolf Transformation

The monster looked like a dire wolf, so Zhao Xing casually gave it that name.

"Chirp~"

At the same time, Bowei had also completed his Transformation of Seasons Art, turning into a large bird resembling an oriole.

As for the other demonic beasts, Bowei released them all.

After the transformations, the Dao Diagrams formed from the two beasts' flesh, bones, and fur were also sealed by Bowei in a small box and placed into his Inner World.

Everything within the Inner World remained unaffected. As long as they did not come out, it was an independent safe space. Hua Li Divine General and the various troop types, for example, had never left the Inner World or come into contact with the outside world, so they would not be affected by Void History spells.

"Do not absorb any spiritual energy for replenishment, except from your Inner World." Bowei warned, "Not even from a World Ring. This realm balances truth and falsehood. Adding or removing even the slightest thing may trigger uncontrollable consequences."

"Got it." Zhao Xing nodded. Fortunately, he had an Inner World. Apart from the Time Page, which he kept on his person, he habitually tossed everything else into his Inner World.

Otherwise, if World Rings could not be used, even replenishing supplies after entering this realm would become difficult.

"Whoosh~"

Qing Yuzi and his Realm Ship were also taken in by Zhao Xing.

After receiving Bowei's signal, they waited where they were for another shichen.

"Buzz~"

At that moment, the sky abruptly went dark.

The sun was extinguished in an instant, replaced by a crescent moon.

"Elder, night fell way too quickly, didn't it?" Zhao Xing sent through Telepathic Transmission. "It isn't even Xu Hour yet."

"Because we broke in. No more Telepathic Transmission. Stay silent. Don't move unless I tell you to."

Zhao Xing immediately fell silent, lying atop the barren hill in the form of a dire wolf.

The oriole above his head kept staring at the crescent moon in the sky.

Moonlight spilled down, illuminating the hill.

Zhao Xing saw the surrounding flowers, grass, and trees turn into blobs of black ink-like fluid beneath the moonlight and seep into the ground.

The pristine white earth made Zhao Xing glance down instinctively. This was no moonlight shining upon the ground. The entire land was clearly a sheet of white paper.

The flowers, grass, trees, soil, rocks, even the animals and the earth were all fake.

Yet not everything was like that. When Zhao Xing looked farther away, he discovered that the dozen or so demonic beasts Bowei had captured were entirely real.

Some flowers, grass, trees, and soil were also genuine matter, and they did not change at that moment.

Truth and falsehood separated at that instant.

After the moonlight reached the ground, it quickly gathered. Its color deepened, turning cyan, before transforming into a river that began spreading outward.

"Whoosh~"

Zhao Xing watched countless things collapse and be destroyed.

When the moonlight swept over him, Zhao Xing could not help but shudder.

Because they had transformed into native lifeforms through the Transformation of Seasons Art, nothing happened after the cyan flood formed by moonlight swept past them.

After waiting another three shichen, dawn came, and the moonlight transformed into sunlight.

Time seemed to shift from stillness into motion. Insect chirps, bird calls, babbling streams, startled deer in the woods—everything came alive again.

The barren scene from before had been utterly replaced by another world.

Only then did he understand what Bowei had meant by not moving carelessly.

"You can move now." Bowei transmitted telepathically.

"Elder, are Historical Scholars really this terrifying?" Zhao Xing was somewhat astonished. "They can actually turn falsehood into truth."

"Didn't you visit the headquarters of the Chasing Light Society? That was a transmission realm left behind by a history-type God King. After who knew how many years, it is still functioning."

"But that place was used for research, so it was relatively harmless. This place is far more dangerous."

"To kill intruders and preserve the integrity of the cenotaph, she made many arrangements."

"Fortunately, it has gone through several eras of destruction, and the spells are no longer perfect. Otherwise, even though we were at the edge, we still could not have avoided detection during that last wave."

Zhao Xing understood. Qing Yuzi, Bowei, and he had already entered. No matter how one put it, they had added things to this realm.

If the transmission realm had truly been perfect, then anything entering it would have been unable to escape detection.

"Elder, can we enter the city now?" Zhao Xing looked at the palace city that had appeared ahead.

"Look around the perimeter first." Bowei poked Zhao Xing's wolf hide with his claw, making Zhao Xing's eyes bulge and roll upward.

"Elder, you can just point in a direction. There's no need to use so much force." Zhao Xing suspected Bowei was taking the chance to get revenge.

"Are you going or not?"

"I'm going, I'm going."

Zhao Xing did not dare say another word. He pushed off with all four limbs and began trotting.

Following Bowei's instructions, he began exploring around the palace city.

At every location, he recorded the strength of the earth veins, the levels of surrounding lifeforms, and the abundance of all kinds of Great Dao Origin.

As a Dao Domain Realm dire wolf beast, he was nearly at the bottom of the food chain here.

Zhao Xing could not wander about recklessly. He had to avoid other native lifeforms and minimize the chances of battle.

They circled for three months without even completing a full loop around the palace.

"We've watched the sun rise and the moon set for three months already. Elder, this palace city can't be fake, can it? It has never changed."

"Not necessarily." Bowei said calmly. "It might be a fake city that simply changes according to the calendar."

"Keep exploring. Do not even think about entering the city until we have observed it for a full sixty-year cycle."

A sixty-year cycle? Exploring a cenotaph established by a history-type God King truly required patience. A sixty-year cycle was already considered short.

Zhao Xing naturally had that patience. He just did not know whether Qing Yuzi would have any problems.

"He will be fine." Bowei said. "As long as he leaves while maintaining his initial state, he will still have his original appearance and realm."

"Void History divine artifacts and spells all have limitations of time and place. As long as he does not attempt to recover his strength within this realm, there will be no problem. What is real can never remain false, and what is false can never become real."

As the dire wolf ran, Zhao Xing asked inwardly, "Suppose we had not sealed him in time when we entered, and Qing Yuzi tried to recover his strength. What would happen?"

Bowei sneered. "If he cultivated and circulated his energy again, he would regress into a mortal. Then there would be no saving him."

"After leaving, once the Void History spell ends, the false history would return to truth in an extremely short time and restore his strength."

"His mind would be crushed first by his own experiences. He would no longer be able to tell whether he was a mortal or a god."

"Once his mind could no longer control his divine body and divine power, he would collapse."

"Now, he remains at the Reincarnation Tribulation Realm. With my help after we leave, he will suffer at most, but he will not die."

"Elder, Historical Scholars must have weaknesses, right?"

"What weakness do you think the Moon God Palace Master has?"

Zhao Xing thought about it.

The Moon God Palace Master could mass-produce Void History divine artifacts. He had once given the Zu Emperor Dynasty three treasures that had been made nonexistent, treasures that had once been the Earthly Advantage Faction's sect-defining artifacts.

He could also solidify history and possessed the divine power to alter and distort historical events. He was simply a heaven-defying existence.

There seemed to be no weakness to find.

"Close combat?" Zhao Xing ventured.

"Close combat?" Even Bowei laughed. "Since the Palace Master could give you the Zu Emperor Dynasty, he must have obtained historical records related to the Ancestral Emperor. He definitely has an Ancestral Emperor Annals avatar. In close combat, the Moon God Palace Master is actually at his strongest."

"Then he has no weaknesses?"

"There are only weak people, not weak professions." Bowei said. "When you learn enough and learn broadly enough, there are no obvious shortcomings."

"You cultivate the Heavenly Timing, Earthly Advantage, and Self Schools together. Once you succeed, you will not have any obvious shortcomings either."

"Of course, weaknesses are relative."

"Any one of the arrangements left behind after Divine King Zhang Yue's death could be triggered, and you would be shattered—don't move."

In the middle of their conversation, Bowei suddenly issued a warning.

Zhao Xing immediately froze.

According to the patterns they had summarized over the past three months, this should have been a safe period. Yet before night had even fallen, the cyan river appeared again. This time, however, it surged from the moat outside the palace city.

It erupted violently, rushing into the sky and forming eight water dragons that swept in every direction.

"Run. Get away from the palace city."

The dire wolf cried out and immediately unleashed a divine ability. Like a streak of light, it swiftly plunged into the forest.

Only after fleeing for three days did they barely escape the area being swept.

Under Bowei's guidance, Zhao Xing returned to the edge of the incident the next day and discovered that this river eruption had killed every lifeform in the surrounding area.

"The native lifeforms born earlier in the Moon Shadow Realm were all unharmed. Only the shifting of heaven and earth between truth and falsehood changed things. Yet now, even lifeforms born in this realm have been harmed." A trace of gravity flashed through Bowei's eyes. "We really are nowhere near figuring it all out."

It would be better if this were a martial artist's tomb. Zhao Xing sighed inwardly.

Qi Sect Martial Practitioners upheld their beliefs throughout their lives, and their tombs were just as straightforward. Smash them open, and the treasure was yours.

Sword Sect tombs were slightly more troublesome, but they were merely things like sword formations or sword spirit guardians.

Compared to historians, they were absurdly simple.

Among all tombs, those of historians were the hardest to excavate. Zhao Xing had learned that deeply back in Moon Luo Cemetery.

If Bowei had not been there, Lao Qing and he might not even have had corpses left.

"Let's go." The oriole atop the dire wolf's head watched for a while before withdrawing its gaze.

"Elder, where are we going?"

"To find stronger native lifeforms. Otherwise, we cannot get through."

For the Moon Shadow Realm to exist for a long time, it had to possess the Characteristics of unceasing life.

In a realm like this, life would inevitably be born.

After searching for half a year, Zhao Xing and Bowei set their sights on two demonic beasts at the demigod realm.

They spent another year comprehending their Life Dao Diagrams and transformed into demigod-level demonic beasts.

Only then did they return near the palace city, continuing to fill out their map and summarize the patterns.

After transforming into demigod bodies, when they encountered another eruption from the moat, they could naturally display their strength and withstand it head-on without needing to retreat.

Over the next eight years, Zhao Xing and Bowei finally examined every region and lifeform around the palace city's perimeter.

Yet Bowei still showed no intention of entering the palace city. He began a second circuit and investigation.

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, a full sixty-year cycle had passed since they entered the Moon Shadow Realm.

Outside the palace city, atop a newly formed mountain.

A demigod beast covered in golden fur, resembling an ape-man but with eight arms, stood alongside a violent bear covered in seven-colored scales at the mountaintop, gazing into the palace city.

"Elder, a sixty-year cycle has passed." The golden ape-man said. "We've gone around the palace city's perimeter dozens of times. Are we still going to keep observing?"

"There is no need." Bowei shook his head. "A full cycle of the heavens reaches its limit at sixty years. If there are any further changes, they should be arranged according to a greater cycle of the heavens, such as one destruction occurring every solar year and returning all conditions to their original state."

"Then how do we enter the city?" Zhao Xing asked. "If the cenotaph lies within the palace city, it should reject any lifeform attempting to enter and disturb it."

The violent bear suddenly crouched, drawing and writing upon the ground with its claws. Many runes flashed into being, but the sand and soil soon trembled, and Bowei swiftly erased them.

"Mm. Next comes my contest with her." Bowei raised his head again, a faint reddish light emerging from his pupils.

"Lend me the Time Page on you."

"What about me?" Zhao Xing asked.

"Maintain your Transformation of Seasons Art. You will be fine for a short while."

Thinking carefully, he and Bowei were bound together in fortune and disaster. Bowei had no reason to harm him.

Moreover, Bowei was still wearing the Great Dao Golden Circlet. If there truly was any problem, he still had means to guard against it.

Thus, Zhao Xing handed the Time Page to Bowei.

The next moment, Bowei reverted from his violent bear form to his original appearance.

Zhao Xing took several steps back.

Bowei had now changed into the robes of a Historical Scholar, with a cyan river circling around him.

Bronze gates emerged one after another from within the river. Between two of them, the History River revealed a phantom of its own.

It was precisely the stretch of history they had experienced after entering the Moon Shadow Realm.

"Splash~"

Bowei guided the bronze river toward the palace city, and it quickly flowed into the moat.

Immediately afterward, the all-sweeping torrent appeared once more.

But this time, Bowei controlled it.

"Retreat farther away."

"Alright." Zhao Xing quickly retreated to the foot of the mountain and watched.

After that, Bowei began casting spells without pause.

About every month, he used a minor spell to replace the rising and setting of the sun and moon.

Once a year, he performed a major spell. The preparations were extremely cumbersome, and he even brought out an altar.

Throughout the process, Bowei's eyes gleamed with brilliant light as they swept across the palace city.

This was the Omniscient Divine Art, capable of seeing through all the mysteries of the world!

"A scholar's Heaven-Opening Eyes really are cool."

Zhao Xing vaguely guessed what Bowei intended to do.

Bowei repeatedly cast spells for sixty years.

During that time, Zhao Xing even saw several versions of Bowei.

At the same time, he saw Bowei use a spell familiar to him—the Golden Cicada True Form, Doppelganger.

In the one hundred and twentieth year after Bowei began casting spells,

he finally stopped.

Zhao Xing was about to ask a question, but just as calm returned, an explosive boom like a thunderclap rang out.

"Boom-crack!"

It was as though heaven and earth had flickered.

The scene before Zhao Xing's eyes flickered as well.

After the alternating light and darkness subsided, Bowei atop the mountain had vanished.

On the other side of the mountain, another palace city had appeared.

"This, this..."

Zhao Xing had guessed that Bowei would use a void-history spell to pass off falsehood as truth, but he had never expected him to duplicate an entire palace city.

So what was he supposed to do now?

And where had Bowei gone?

Fortunately, Zhao Xing soon received guidance. A leaf fell from the mountaintop and drifted over to him on the wind.

He snatched it up, and a voice as faint as a mosquito buzz sounded in his mind.

"Enter the city."

Zhao Xing understood immediately. He turned into a streak of light and swiftly rushed into the palace city.

As he approached the moat, the azure river showed no reaction.

Only when Zhao Xing crossed it did his reflection appear in the water, causing his body to halt.

But soon, that shadow was pulled up and merged into his true body.

The first layer of the Minglei Shadowless Art—the Shadow Collection Method!

The palace city seemed to have no formations, and Zhao Xing easily crossed the city walls.

But after entering, Zhao Xing discovered that the inside was a vibrant world.

Daoist halls, martial arts halls, music halls, medicine halls, temples, and restaurants lined both sides of the streets—everything was there.

Crowds of people flowed in and out.

Through the smooth white jade floor tiles, Zhao Xing discovered that he too had taken on a different appearance.

He wore a gray hemp robe, with a gourd at his waist and a fish basket in hand. Several dragons were still hopping about energetically inside the basket.

Through the smooth white jade floor, Zhao Xing saw that his face had changed as well. His originally sunny and handsome face had become utterly ordinary, square-shaped and covered in stubble.

Zhao Xing had no idea what he had turned into. He glanced at his panel and found an additional record.

It reminded him that he had been struck by a Zhang Guan Li Dai spell. There were also many strange new skills, all bearing the word "void" after their names.

He could not tell whether Bowei had cast it, but Master Zhao was panicking like crazy.

Because when he looked at his panel,

a second false name had appeared after the name field: Yu Heng.

And after the Zu Emperor Dynasty realm, there was a third false realm.

God King Realm!

Just as Zhao Xing was feeling bewildered, he suddenly heard a gentle female voice.

"You're back."

Zhao Xing raised his head and found that, at some unknown point, he had come to stand before a small rural courtyard.

A woman with an oval face, dressed in white and wearing emerald willow ornaments in her hair, leaned against the entrance and looked at him with a smile.

The words Zhang Yue Annals, avatar, God King Realm flashed before his eyes.

Zhao Xing was feeling rather numb.

Judging from that exploration of Moon Luo Cemetery, he seemed to have become someone in a story from another realm.

And he was undeniably the protagonist.

One wrong move, and he would be dead.

Back then, Yang Baihe had nearly died there.

Elder, don't screw me over. You want me to play Divine King Yu Heng?!

In any case, Master Zhao was panicking like crazy.

He had never expected Bowei's so-called solution to be like this.

"Yu Heng, why are you standing there? Did something unpleasant happen?" the woman at the door asked doubtfully.

By the time she asked for the second time, the panic in Zhao Xing's heart had already faded.

He raised his head slightly and revealed a faint smile. "There was, but the moment I saw you, it all vanished like smoke."

Zhang Yue lowered her eyes and murmured, "What are you saying—come in."

Zhao Xing stepped over the threshold, leaned close to Zhang Yue's ear, and said, "I said that the moment I see you, all my troubles disappear. Look, they heard it too."

The fish basket bounced. Hearing such intimate words, Zhang Yue seemed somewhat flustered. She snatched the fish basket from Zhao Xing's hand. "I-I'll go cook."

As Zhang Yue ran off, Zhao Xing's smile slowly faded.

Fortunately, he had read the memoir Zhang Yue had written. They contained all the little moments of daily life between her and Divine King Yu Heng.

Zhao Xing had displayed Divine King Yu Heng's personality in the blink of an eye.

"Continuing to play the part won't be too difficult. But Elder, are you really not afraid I'll die?" Zhao Xing walked into the courtyard, came beneath a peach tree, untied his gourd, and drank.

According to Divine King Zhang Yue's memoir, whenever Divine King Yu Heng lived with her, he liked to plant a peach tree in the courtyard, then drink beneath it while waiting for the food to be ready.

"Great seclusion lies in the city; lesser seclusion lies in the wilderness."

"During the period when Yu Heng and Zhang Yue lived in seclusion, they neither lived deep in the mountains nor in a major city of the Great Yellow World. They concealed their God King cultivation, yet did not completely pretend to be mortals, choosing instead to live in this small city where cultivation development was neither high nor low."

"Yu Heng often called himself Old Man of Middle Seclusion before Zhang Yue." Zhao Xing rapidly reviewed the contents of the memoir.

Right now, he had no one to rely on. Bowei had disappeared, and under these circumstances, his strength was utterly insignificant.

"I can only rely on acting." Zhao Xing took a drink, feeling a faint sadness.

Before long, a fragrant scent drifted over from the stove in the southeast.

As the cooking smoke gradually faded, rosy-cheeked Zhang Yue came beneath the peach blossom tree, with plates of food floating behind her.

"The food is ready! Hurry and try my new recipe."

Zhao Xing did not dare eat things from another realm recklessly. Some things might be food to Divine King Yu Heng, but lethal poison to him. Yet faced with Zhang Yue's expectant gaze, he could not refuse, because according to the records, Yu Heng loved her cooking most.

"It smells wonderful. The color, aroma, and taste are all perfect—it truly whets one's appetite!" Zhao Xing picked up his chopsticks and lavished praise upon it.

"If Yu Heng wants to eat, then I'll keep cooking for you." Zhang Yue was delighted by the praise.

Yet Zhao Xing set down his chopsticks. An unshakable sorrow lingered between his brows, and in the end, he sighed softly.

"Keep... I hope there truly will be such an opportunity."